1. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 10 December 1982, 1833 U.N.T.S. 3 (entered into force 16 November 1994) [UNCLOS].

2. Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, 29 December 1972, 1046 U.N.T.S. 120 (entered into force 30 August 1975); Protocol of 1996 to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and other Matter (the London Protocol), 1972, 7 November 1996, IMO Doc. LC/SM 16 (entered into force 24 March 2006, amended on 2 November 2006, amendment entered into force 10 February 2007) [LP]; Convention on Biological Diversity, 22 May 1992, 1760 U.N.T.S. 79 (entered into force 29 December 1993) [CBD].

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5. Terry CARTER et al., “Geological Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide: A Technological Review and Analysis of Opportunities in Ontario”, Climate Change Research Report CCRR-07, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (2007) at 6Google Scholar

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7. LC/SG 34/INF.3, supra note 3.

8. IMO, “Report of the Working Group on Ocean Fertilization”, LC/SG 31/WP.3/Rev.1, 22 May 2008, 1.

9. LC/SG 34/INF.3, supra note 3.

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15. Ibid., at 6.

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20. LC/SG 34/INF.3, supra note 3.

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27. Participants at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development held in June 2012 at Rio de Janeiro adopted a resolution which includes a note of concern on “the potential environmental impacts of ocean fertilization” and recalls decisions taken by relevant international organizations “consistent with the precautionary principle”, UN, “Report of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development”, 20–22 June 2012, A/CONF/216/16, para. 167. Also see decisions on ocean fertilization adopted by the Conference of the Parties under the Convention on Biological Diversity (see decisions referred to in infra note 41).

28. LC/SG 34/INF.3, supra note 3 at 5.

29. Ibid.

30. Ibid.

31. UNCLOS, supra note 1, art. 1(1)(5): “(5)(a) ‘dumping’ means: (i) any deliberate disposal of wastes or other matter from vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea; (ii) any deliberate disposal of vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea; (b) ‘dumping’ does not include: (i) the disposal of wastes or other matter incidental to, or derived from the normal operations of vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea and their equipment, other than wastes or other matter transported by or to vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea, operating for the purpose of disposal of such matter or derived from the treatment of such wastes or other matter on such vessels, aircraft, platforms or structures; (ii) placement of matter for a purpose other than the mere disposal thereof, provided that such placement is not contrary to the aims of this Convention.”

32. For a discussion on the definition of dumping under the London Protocol, see the following subsection.

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35. UNCLOS, supra note 1, art. 56(1)(a).

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37. Ibid.

38. UNCLOS, supra note 1, art. 56.

39. Ibid., art. 246 (5)(a).

40. Ibid., art. 197.

41. CBD, “Decisions Adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at its Ninth Meeting”, UNEP/CBD/COP/DEC/IX/16, 9 October 2008, 19−30 May 2008. This prohibition is reaffirmed in Decision X/33 which was adopted by the COP 10 in 2010 and in Decision XI/20 adopted by the COP 11 in 2012. See CBD, “Decision Adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at its Tenth Meeting”, UNEP/CBD/COP/DEC/X/33, 29 October 2010 at 5; CBD, “Decision Adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at its Eleventh Meeting”, UNEP/CBD/COP/DEC/XI/20, 5 December 2012.

42. UNEP/CBD/COP/DEC/IX/16, supra note 41 at 7.

43. Ibid.

44. LC/SG 34/INF.3, supra note 3 at 16; IMO, “Report of the Thirty-Fourth Meeting of the Scientific Group of the London Convention and the Fifth Meeting of the Scientific Group of the London Protocol”, IMO, LC/SG 34/15, 24 May 2011 at 14−17.

45. IMO, “Resolution LC-LP.1 (2008) on Regulation of Ocean Fertilization”, adopted on 31 October 2008.

46. Ibid.

47. Ibid.

48. LP, supra note 2, art. 2.

49. Resolution LC-LP.1 (2008).

50. See also para. 8 of the Resolution LC-LP.1 (2008), and art. 1.4.2.2 of the London Protocol. Dumping is defined as “any deliberate disposal into the sea of wastes or other matter from vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea; any deliberate disposal into the sea of vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea; any storage of wastes or other matter in the sea-bed and the subsoil thereof from vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea; and any abandonment or toppling at site of platforms or other man-made structures at sea, for the sole purpose of deliberate disposal”. Dumping does not include “the disposal into the sea of wastes or other matter incidental to, or derived from the normal operations of vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea and their equipment, other than wastes or other matter transported by or to vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea, operating for the purpose of disposal of such matter or derived from the treatment of such wastes or other matter on such vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures. 2. Placement of matter for a purpose other than the mere disposal thereof, provided that such placement is not contrary to the aims of this Protocol.”

51. Ibid., para. 8.

52. Gi-Hoon HONG, “An Analysis of Development Trend of Rules to Govern Geo-Engineering Businesses under the London Protocol” in Gi-Hoon HONG, ed., the Global Governance of Climate Geo-Engineering and London Protocol (Seoul: ORUEM Publishing House, 2011)Google Scholar

53. Ibid.

54. For the original four options, see Annexes, in IMO, “Ocean Fertilization-Report of the 4th Meeting of the Intercessional Working Group on Ocean Fertilization”, LC 34/4, 27 July 2012.

55. LC 34/WP.4, supra note 4.

56. Ibid., Annexes 2 and 3.

57. IMO, “Regulation of Ocean Fertilization and Other Activities-Proposal to Amend the 1996 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes or Other Matter, 1972 to Regulate Placement of Matter for Ocean Fertilization and Other Marine Geo-engineering Activities”, submitted by Australia, Nigeria, and Republic of Korea, 11 April 2013, LC 35/4.

58. IMO, “Report of the Thirty Second Consultative Meeting and the Fifth Meeting of the Contracting Parties”, November 2010, LC 32/15 at 15.

59. Ibid., at 16.

60. Ibid. The report by the drafting group of the assessment framework notes that the footnote implies Article 235 of the UNCLOS.

61. See ftn 21, IMO, “Assessment Framework for Scientific Research Involving Ocean Fertilization (adopted on 14 October 2010)”, Annex 6, LC 32/15, supra note 58.

62. Principle 2 of the Rio Declaration of Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, UNCED, June 1992, online: 〈http://www.unep.org〉; Principle 21 of the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (the Stockholm Declaration), Stockholm, Sweden, 1972, UN, A/CONF/48/14/REV.1.

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70. Ibid.

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77. Ibid.

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95. UNCLOS, supra note 1, art. 235.

96. Ibid., art. 235(3).

97. Ibid., art. 139.

98. Ibid.

99. Ibid.

100. Advisory Opinion on Responsibility and Obligations of States Sponsoring Persons and Entities with Respect to Activities in the Area, Advisory Opinion [2011] the Seabed Disputes Chamber, List of Cases No: 17, at 74−5.

101. UNCLOS, supra note 1, art. 263(3).

102. Ibid., art. 94(4)(c).

103. WEGELEIN, Florian H. Th., Marine Scientific Research: The Operation and Status of Research Vessels and Other Platforms in International Law (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2005) at 350 Google Scholar

104. LP, supra note 2, art. 15.

105. Ibid., art. 2.

106. Ibid., art. 3.4.

107. Ibid, arts. 3.1, 3.2.

108. Ibid., arts. 4, 5.

109. Ibid.

110. Ibid., art. 6.

111. Ibid., art. 9.

112. Ibid., art. 10.3.

113. Art. 12, Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean, 10 June 1995, 1102 U.N.T.S. 27 (entered into force 9 July 2004) [Barcelona Convention].

114. IMO, “Development of Procedures Regarding Liability Arising from Dumping-Overview of Liability Issues under Multilateral Environmental Agreements Relevant for the Purpose of the London Protocol”, LC 29/9, 21 September 2007, at 3Google Scholar

115. Art. 16, Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, 1991, 30 I.L.M. 1461 (entered into force 14 January 1998); Antarctic Treaty, 1 December 1959, 402 U.N.T.S. 71 (entered into force 23 June 1961).

116. Ibid.

117. Art. 6, Annex VI, Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty, supra note 115.

118. Ibid. This Annex has not yet entered into force.

119. Liability cannot be imposed when an unforeseeable natural disaster of an exceptional character causes the environmental emergency, and if all reasonable preventative measures are taken in advance: ibid., art. 8, Annex VI.

120. Ibid., art. 6(3), Annex VI.

121. Ibid., art. 10, Annex VI; Kiss and Shelton, supra note 91, at 1137−8.

122. Art. 4, Draft Principles on the Allocation of Loss in the Case of Transboundary Harm Arising out of Hazardous Activities, supra note 89.

123. Art. 48, Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, supra note 89.

124. Patricia BIRNIE et al., International Law and the Environment (New York: Oxford University Press 2009) at 235Google Scholar

125. Unlike the CCS, which is considered eligible as a clean development mechanism, ocean fertilization has not yet been conceived as having such eligibility within the relevant international organizations.

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127. Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration, supra note 62.

128. ITLOS, “Responsibility and Obligations of States Sponsoring Persons and Entities with respect to Activities in the Area”, the Seabed Dispute Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, 1 February 2011, Case No. 17, at 6−7.

129. Ibid., at 7.

130. ISA, “Proposal to Seek an Advisory Opinion from the Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on Matters Regarding Sponsoring State Responsibility and Liability”, submitted by the Delegation of Nauru, the Council of the International Seabed Authority, ISBA/16/C/6, 5 March 2010.

131. Ibid., at 2; UNCLOS, supra note1, art. 139.

132. Advisory Case No. 17, para. 9(b)(v).

133. Ibid., at 5−6.

134. Ibid., at 6.

135. Ibid., paras. 64−71.

136. Ibid.

137. Ibid., para. 110.

138. Ibid., paras. 215−17.

139. Ibid., para. 176.

140. Ibid., paras. 201−3.

141. Ibid., paras. 100−205.

142. Ibid.

143. Ibid.

144. ITLOS Case No. 17, para. 198. See in the Area in ISA, “Draft Regulation 30 of the Regulations on Prospecting and Exploration for Polymetallic Sulphides”, 4 May 2010, ISBA/16/C/L.5.

145. LP, supra note 2, art. 15.

146. Ibid., art. 13.1.5.

147. LP, art. 11, Annex 2.

148. Ibid., art. 15.

149. UN, “Reports of International Arbitral Awards-Trail Smelter Case (United States, Canada)”, 16 April 1938 and 11 March 1941, Vol. III, 1905−82, at 1980.

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